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Thrift. Store. Battle.

Hot Leathers tag

There’s a game we play when we go to any thrift store. In addition to trying to find odd and novel black clothing, I am trying to find the oddest, weirdest, downright mind-destroying object I can. It’s usually an item of clothing, but it can be anything. A vinyl LP (ask your parents, kids), a book, an odd VHS tape, a vintage board game–anything. Everyone comes together with their entry into the contest and it’s generally fairly clear who wins. This is the world of…Thrift Store Battle.

But it doesn’t have to be a thrift store, like Goodwill or the Salvation Army or whatnot. Could be that Mecca of odd and wonderful bits, Unclaimed Baggage.

You could be asking yourself at this point: what’s a good example of a worthy entry?

Well, here’s one of Cosette’s more memorable entries.

Powder Blue Leather Chaps

You are not hallucinating. Those are indeed powder blue leather chaps.

Here is quite possibly one of my favorite entries ever.

Crazed rainbow velour pants

Did you ever do that trick where you drew a bunch of colors, maybe even a rainbow like setup, in crayon on a sheet of paper? Then you covered the whole thing in black crayon, then you scratched away the black to reveal the color beneath, thus making a very colorful picture? That’s what this is, except in fabric. Below is a closeup. And yes…those are naked people. Not obviously naked but if you’re looking at this at work, consider this mildly NSFW and scroll appropriately. Also I’ve included the a picture of the tag. Because…it’s just too insane. I believe that’s from Burton, the people who make snowboarding pants. Just wow.

Closeup of pants Burton tag

[ad#rightpost]So there you have it. Two fine examples of insanity. What does the winner normally get when we play? Prestige and gloating rights. At least until the next game.

However, it occurred to us that it might be fun for everybody to play a round. So, do you want to play? Here’s how you do it.

1. Go to a local thrift store (or equivalent). Must be someplace where the stuff is pre-owned.

2. Find something amazing, astounding, jaw-dropping or just plain odd.

3. Take a picture of it. Should you find more than one thing, then your fu is strong–take separate pictures of each. However, because we want to ensure stuff is found in stores and not “found” via Google search, you must either (a) include yourself in the picture (as above) or (b) for the shy types among you, include a sign that says “THRIFT STORE BATTLE” in frame with the item. Then upload your picture(s) to somewhere. Flickr, Facebook, Twitpic, wherever. Feel free to provide whatever additional text you feel is necessary at the site where you’ve uploading. Then tweet the entry to @needcoffeefeed with the hashtag #thriftstorebattle.

As entries come in, we will be looking at voting methods that can include yourself, your friends, and–of course–bribing your friends to vote for you. The ultimate winner will win a Mystery Box of goodies. The more entries we receive, the more awesome the Box will be. And the more fun we will all have.

Don’t be afraid to share your entry. If this is a hoot and we go to round two, I’ll share with you another entry of which I am proud: an album of gospel-singing policemen. I am not kidding either.

This first round ends July 15th at 11:59pm EST. So…LET THE BATTLE COMMENCE.

1 comment

  • Brilliant Concept! And I like your use of the phrase, “Then your Fu is strong!”